Eyes of the Lotus: Part One
by Lord Aerono
Summary: The Eyes of the Lotus. The branch of the Tenno dedicated to gathering information for the Lotus. But sometimes she misjudges the value of a particular target, and it is up to her operative to find a way to salvage the mission. Minor spoilers for The Second Dream. (Really minor spoilers. You probably won't even notice them.)
1. Entrance

The grate hit the ground with a clatter, and was followed a moment later by a dark green and black Loki prime and a matching Helios Prime.

The Loki straightened slowly, glancing around the room.

Satisfied that he was alone, he tapped two fingers against his helmet. "Lotus, this is Vaarta. I'm in."

"Good work, Tenno. You are here to infiltrate datavaults and retrieve highly sensitive enemy information."

Vaarta rolled his eyes as he placed and activated an energy restore. For all that the Eyes of the Lotus worked closely with the Lotus, they still mostly got the preset responses the rest of the Tenno got.

While he waited for the energy restore to finish charging his onboard storage, Vaarta ran a final check on his gear. His daikyu seemed fine after crawling through the vents, and its quiver was still full. His knell was secured and loaded, and his endura hung properly on his left hip.

As the energy restore released its fourth and final pulse, Vaarta activated his invisibility and headed out of the room and into the halls of the Grineer galleon.

Passing the guards in the hallway, Vaarta headed into the next room. Turning left at the door, he stopped abruptly to avoid walking into a pair of Grineer soldiers who were standing there talking.

"...hut os humtreshuve."*1 One was saying as Vaarta halted and looked for a way around them.

"Rur?! Humtreshuve?! Gar sono ba horoi!"*2 The other snarled.

"Rey, div tu mukler oot of klos!"*3

As the two began arguing, Vaarta carefully backed away and leapt over the railing to the lower floor, allowing him to continue to head towards the first vault.

"Tenno, be on the lookout for increased security measures. The enemy would rather destroy their data than let it fall into our hands."

Vaarta jumped over a Grineer lancer, rolled, and continued down the hall. "Lotus, I do know what I'm doing, and the last thing I need right now is another distraction."

There was no answer.

"Somehow I'm unsurprised." Vaarta chuckled as he continued into the ship.

As Vaarta arrived at the first vault, the Lotus contacted him again.

"You're nearing the console. Trigger the alarms now, and they will start destroying the data."

"Yes, thank you mom." Vaarta said as he worked on hacking the door open. "I have done this before, you know."

The door opened, and Vaarta glanced around the vault. "Production line. Excellent. Opening on the right."

As he stepped through the door, Vaarta's invisibilty expired. He paused, then continued. "I don't need it for this. I'll turn it back on on my way out."

Vaarta jumped through the opening, latching onto the opposing wall and clambering up to the platform above, before heading into the open pipe next to the platform.

"Let's see...slide under that...and that...down to the conveyor, aaand...yes! I can get to the console."

Vaarta dropped down in front of the datavualt access console. A quick check confirmed that the Grineer hadn't placed a guard in the room, before he turned his attention to the difficult task of extracting the data.

Ten seconds later, the console had been hacked, vault security had been disabled, and Vaarta was on his way out of the vault.

"Excellent work. A clean extraction with no alarms."

Vaarta sighed. "As usual, mother. You don't need to keep being so surprised."

At that moment a deep metallic chime filled the ship.

Vaarta immediately cloaked and checked his radar. No, none of the guards had spotted him, so what-

"Aktentruk. Doramn fkr shuta spekton. Uk khorai. Klaat os as."*4

Vaarta grabbed an arrow, drew it back, and just barely avoided firing it into the speaker as the voice blared from it. Relaxing a little upon realizing the voice's source, Vaarta tried to listen. His understanding of the Grineer tongue was incomplete at best, but he was able to pick up a few words. Something about a ship? In an hour?

Without warning the doors of the room he was in slammed shut and locked, and Vaarta could hear echoes of other doors throughout the massive galleon slamming shut as well.

It seemed that the ship was in a lockdown, and not for any reason to do with him.

"Well." He muttered, searching for a pipe he could make use of. "This mission just got a lot more interesting."

I'll put translations in the footnotes for those who want them:

*1 ...it is impressive.

*2 What?! Impressive?! You son of a whore!

*3 Hey, leave my mother out of this!

*4 Attention. Lockdown for ship inspection. One hour. That is all.


	2. Escalation

Crawling though the pipes of the Grineer galleon was neither fast nor easy, but as Vaarta was still deciding if he dared to try lifting the shipwide lockdown, he was willing to put up with it.

Briefly, he considered contacting the Lotus, then discarded the idea. Last time this had happened, it turned out the ship had just been on lockdown due to a technical malfunction that had nothing to do with him. Until he found out more, he wasn't going to call.

"Let's see...there should be a grate right...here...yes!"

Vaarta shifted around in the pipe to get his feet pointed at the grate, drew his legs back, and kicked the grate hard.

The grate bent slightly, but didn't move.

Vaarta drew his legs back, and kicked the grate again.

The grate bent more, but still didn't come loose.

"Once more should do it..." Vaarta muttered, drawing his legs back to kick again.

At that moment the door at the far end of the room opened.

Vaarta froze, his knees brought up to his chin.

Through the newly opened door marched a Grineer in drekar armor, his armor largely unscarred, his prosthetic arms and eyes of very high quality. He was followed by four normal armor lancers and-

Vaarta's eyes widened.

-and two manic bombards, the door locking behind them as they entered.

Slowly, carefully, Vaarta reached into his quiver for an arrow.

Abruptly, the drekar Grineer barked something, and the group stopped.

Vaarta went still as a statue.

"Kwey os klaat enfre broga?"*1 The drekar barked, gesturing at the grate Vaarta was hiding behind.

"Hut kuks akre tk me."*2 said one of the lancers, dismissively.

"Rath hut anam?"*3 The drekar said, scorn dripping from his words.

From behind the grate, Vaarta watched, confused, trying to sort out what was going on.

Without warning the drekar drew his kraken sidearm and shot the lancer in the face.

"Klos shuta rraas oroka ka rutka."*4 The drekar muttered as he holstered his sidearm, staring down at the lancer's corpse.

"Gur!" The drekar said, gesturing to one of the manics. "Ruks do enfre."*5

The bombard didn't move, save for tightening his grip on his gun.

The Drekar placed a hand on his gun. "Ra gar gurke me tk vakal Tyl Regor?"*6 He asked, in a threatening tone.

Vaarta twitched.

The bombard hesitated for a moment, then marched over to the grate and rammed his shoulder into it, mostly bending the metal back into place.

The group resumed their march, halting in front of the next door.

"Dor!"*7 The drekar snarled.

The door promptly opened, and the team passed through before it shut and locked again.

For a long moment, the room was silent.

Then the grate fell off the wall with a clatter.

There was another pause, then faint footsteps could be heard, as if someone was climbing out of the hole and stepping into the room.

Without warning Vaarta was there, crouched near the wall he'd entered through.

Slowly he rose, glancing carefully around. The Grineer weren't known for cameras, but this was far from a normal situation.

After checking the room with both his eyes and his Helios' sensors and concluding that there was no immediate danger, Vaarta relaxed slightly.

He looked at the corpse of the lancer, wondering exactly what he'd said to get himself shot, why there was an oddly armored drekar aboard a galleon in the first place, and why he'd mentioned Tyl Regor.

Suddenly, Vaarta realized what was going on, glancing between the corpse and the grate.

"An inspection." He whispered, glancing at the corpse. "The drekar's one of Regor's lieutenants, and he's inspecting the ship. The vaults must be Regor's."

A new thought stuck Vaarta. "He'll check the vaults' contents. They're going to notice the missing data!"

Vaarta went to call the Lotus, then hesitated. "Should I just leave? I can probably get to my Scimitar before they miss the data." He shook his head. "No. This data's valuable enough to have a high ranking Grineer check it personally. We need to make sure the data's still viable, and I can't get around fast enough with the doors locked. Time to call in the boss."

He opened a comm channel.

"Vaarta to Lotus. Come in."

"What is it, Tenno?"

Vaarta sighed in exasperation. "I have neither time nor patience for the automated replies. Code Gamma Black. I need the Lotus NOW."

*1 Why is that grate broken?

*2 It looks okay to me.

*3 Does it now?

*4 This ship has nothing but trash.

*5 You!" "Fix the grate.

*6 Do you want me to call Tyl Regor?

*7 Door.


	3. Deliberation

There was a brief pause, then the Lotus spoke again. "Vaarta, what's going on?"

"Tyl Regor sent one of his lieutenants to inspect the datavaults. The ship is on lockdown while he's doing that."

"Are you certain the lieutenant is one of Tyl Regor's?"

"He had a pair of manic bombards playing bodyguard and following his orders. I'm sure."

There was a momentary gap in the conversation.

"That complicates things. Do you want to terminate the mission or continue?"

"I want to continue. I think that this mission can still be salvaged. Besides, I already hit one vault before the lieutenant arrived, and we can't let them invalidate the data."

"That is true. How do you want to proceed?"

"I follow the inspection team, steal from the vaults after they clear them, then use a reactor to set off a magnetic anomaly to wipe the stored data in the vaults and hide my theft."

The Lotus considered the plan for a moment. "That should work, presuming that the inspection route cooperates. Do you want the lockdown lifted?"

"If you can without setting off alarms. Otherwise I'll take directions and any other aid you can offer."

There was a pause

"I can't safely lift the lockdown, but I can open individual doors for you. Are you ready."

"Almost. Do you read the inspection team on your sensors?"

"Yes. They're approaching one of the vaults."

Vaarta tensed. "Is it the production line one?"

"No. They are approaching the railcar storage vault."

Vaarta relaxed. "Good. I haven't been there yet."

"Head to the door on your right."

Vaarta did as asked, turning invisible as he reached the door.

With a click, the door unlocked and slid open.

Vaarta ran through the door without having to break stride, smiling to himself. It was always interesting seeing the Lotus put her timing to new uses.

Behind him, the door slammed shut and locked itself again.

Vaarta slowed. "Lotus, was that you?"

"Yes. Go left."

Vaarta regained his lost speed. "Problem or necessity?"

"Necessity. Go straight."

Vaarta complied. "Can I ask for details?"

"Later. Go left."

Vaarta shrugged, picked up his pace, and ran, following the Lotus' directions through the winding halls of the Grineer galleon.

"Vaarta, the inspection team has reached the first datavault."

Vaarta glanced at his HUD. "I should be there in 10 seconds."

"Excellent."

Vaarta turned the corner and spotted the open door of the vault, accelerating towards it.

"Be manic bombards are flanking the door."

Vaarta immediately threw his weight backwards, skidding to a halt outside the vault door just as his invisiblity ended.

Immediately reactivating his invisibility, Vaarta took a quick glance around, confirming that he hadn't been seen, before strolling into the datavault, nodding cordially at the manic guards as he did.

"Lotus, where's the inspector?"

"He is currently raising the railcars to enter the vault."

Vaarta picked up his pace. "Perfect. Let's get this started."


	4. Pilfer

Careful not to bump into the manics by the door or the lancers standing nearby, Vaarta made his way into the vault.

Glancing through the windows on his right, Vaarta saw the second railcar rise into position in front of the vault door.

Stepping smoothly around the sensor regulator hovering by the railcar consoles, Vaarta sprinted through down the main hall and ducked left around the wall, arriving at the end of the railcar room just in time to see the Drekar entering the vault room.

"Lotus, door!" Vaarta yelled, hurtling towards the vault door.

The door started to close, then seemed to stall for a moment.

As the inspector turned to look at the door, Vaarta dived though the opening and rolled to the other side of the room, still hidden behind his invisibility.

Scowling, the inspector marched over to the door.

From his hiding place near the ceiling, Vaarta watched and waited, his hand on his knell.

The inspector glared at the door, smacking the doorframe open handed.

With a loud groan, the door slid shut and locked.

"Takn't keve handa klenna shota un kworm."*1 The inspector muttered, turning back to the datavault terminal.

Vaarta shifted slightly, keeping the inspector in his crosshairs.

The inspector reached the terminal and leaned forward, typing a few short commands into the console.

He studied the information on the screen for several minutes, occasionally backtracking to double check a particular piece of information.

In his high perch, Vaarta sat very still, refreshing his invisibility as needed.

At last, the inspector shut off the stream of data and stepped back from the terminal, pulling a device from his belt and holding it near his mouth.

Vaarta considered activating his signal recorder, then decided against it. The data he was here for was far too valuable for the risk.

"Sulma Corak os un kworm. As smar sekuklekle. Gkkng tk sulma Bunk."*2

Returning the device to his belt, the inspector turned and headed to the side door out of the vault.

"Dor."*3 He snarled, and the doors began to slide open.

Abruptly the inspector turned around, glancing around the vault.

Everything was as he had left it. The vault was locked down, the railcar access door was shut, and everything was properly in place.

For a moment the inspector continued to stare, confirming that everything was as it should be.

Then, satisfied that it was, he turned back to the now open doors and marched out, turning left up the stairs as he headed back to his escort.

"Tunre do dor."*4

As the doors slid shut, neither the inspector nor the sensor regulator a short distance away saw a black and dark green Loki appear briefly outside the open doors before vanishing again.

In the safety of his seat in his orbiter, Vaarta allowed himself a brief chuckle.

"Good work Vaarta. Only one more vault to go."

"My pleasure Lotus. Have you found a reactor that we can use?"

"I have. Are you following Regor's lieutenant?"

Vaarta nodded. "I am."

"Good. I'll contact you once you've accessed the last vault."

"Yes ma'am. Vaarta out."

The conversation over, Vaarta turned his attention to the task at hand; staying on the heels of the manic bodyguards without accidentally bumping them.

Despite himself, Vaarta was enjoying this mission. This was exactly what he'd signed on for.

*1 Can't even keep their ship in order.

*2 Vault Corak is in order. All data secure. Going to vault Bunk.

*3 Door.

*4 Shut the door.


	5. Acquired

Following behind the manic bombards, Vaarta caught himself matching their stride and catching up to them.

Vaarta broke step and fell a couple steps back. "Easy Vaarta." He muttered to himself. "You've got this. Don't mess up now."

Close behind the inspection team, Vaarta entered the access room for the second datavault. Vaarta's eyes went wide, and he broke out in a large grin.

"Two doors." He noted to himself as the inspector stepped up to the console and began inputting the access code. "That means the tower with the hole in the roof. Perfection."

The doors unlocked, and the inspector turned back to the triad of lancers.

"Gar." He said, pointing at one of the lancers. "Kom rrhukl me."*1

The lancer hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward. "At kwull."*2

The inspector turned towards the door on the right, and he and the lancer marched through and headed down to the elevator that permitted entrance to the datavault terminal.

As the door began to close, Vaarta slid through into the vault proper. Rather than follow the inspector, he waited a moment to create some distance, before leaping up onto the roof of the room that housed the terminal.

Creeping around the edge of the roof, Vaarta found what he was looking for.

All datavaults of this type had a standard flaw. One section of the roof was always missing, perhaps as an entry point for power cables, or to allow airflow, or as a release for heat. Vaarta didn't know which.

What he did know, as he dropped into the vault and found a comfortable location to wait out the inspection, was that the opening made his job easier, and gave his plan a better chance of working.

A short time later, the elevator rose up into the terminal room with the inspector and lancer upon it.

The inspector stepped off the elevator towards the terminal. "Antak klegra."*3 He growled over his shoulder to the lancer.

"At kwull."*4

From his perch atop the terminal, Vaarta noted the lancer's obvious discomfort.

The inspector accessed the terminal and began checking the data. As with the previous vault, it took some time to sort through the data.

Several minutes passed in silence, with the lancer slowly growing more uncomfortable as the silence stretched longer and longer.

At last the inspector finished his check and straightened up. "Gar! Kom reger."*5

The lancer came to meet the inspector next to the terminal.

The inspector pointed at the ceiling.

"Kwey os klaat rundo onkorga?"*6

The lancer looked in the indicated direction. "Hu ran's lenner kwull."*7

"Gar ran's lenner." The inspector snarled. "Lahk takka kf shota os klos!?"*8

As he finished pulling the data from the terminal, Vaarta chuckled. It was always funny watching the Grineer fight eachother.

"Klaat rundo gotka ann sekuklekle nar as tokks!"*9

Vaarta missed the lancer's reply as he leapt back out the hole and landed on the vault roof.

Taking a moment to refresh his invisibility, he contacted the Lotus again.

"Vaarta. You have all the data?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good work. I've marked the reactor on your map. Head there now."

Vaarta took a moment to locate the red marker that indicated the reactor, then jumped down towards the vault exit. "I'm on my way. The inspector's having an argument with one of the lancers. That should buy us some more time."

"Excellent work."

Vaarta smiled. "Thanks mom. I appreciate that."

There was the briefest of pauses.

"You are welcome. Now hurry. We don't have much time."

Vaarta smiled slightly before he answered. "I'm on it. You won't need to tell me twice."

*1 "You." "Come with me."

*2 Yes sir.

*3 Wait there.

*4 Yes sir.

*5 You! Come here!

*6 Why is that hole open?

*7 I don't know sir.

*8 "You don't know." "What kind of ship is this!?"

*9 That hole should be secure at all times!


	6. Sabotage

Vaarta slid into the reactor room, Lotus closing the door behind him as soon as he was through it.

"Lotus' what's the inspector doing?"

"It looks like he's still berating the lancer."

"Perfect."

Vaarta glanced around the room, noting the positions of the guards.

Most of them were gathered by the reactor core pipes, talking in quiet tones while two sentries patrolled the perimeter of the room.

Vaarta stepped behind one of the sentries as she passed, refreshing his invisibility as he did so.

"Lotus, where am I going for the coolant?"

Two yellow markers appeared on his map, marking doors on the sides of the reactor room.

"Thank you." Vaarta said, stepping around the sentry and heading for the nearest door. "What security am I looking at?"

"Both cells are secured behind sensor fields that are being powered by dedicated generators."

Vaarta blinked. "Both of them on the same system? That's convenient."

Entering the first coolant access room, Vaarta turned right and headed into the first generator room, relieved that this area seemed to be free of guards.

Drawing his knell, Vaarta took careful aim and disabled the generator with a pair of shots, before crossing the room and doing the same to the other generator.

The way now clear, Vaarta dropped down to the coolant cell access. Carefully, he pulled the coolant cell most of the way out, then hesitated. "Lotus, can the system detect if a cell is leaking or empty?"

There was a moments pause.

"No it cannot. What are you thinking?"

Vaarta shifted his grip on his knell and raised it above his head. "I'm staging the scene."

Vaarta brought the butt of his knell down on the glass of the cell with a dull crunch, fracturing it.

"Vaarta, we do not have time to drain the cells."

"I know." Vaarta holstered his pistol and pulled an arrow out of his quiver, using the tip to leverage some of the fractured glass free. "Which is why I'm not waiting around."

Flipping the cell over, Vaarta smacked the arrow into the glass again, creating a small puncture, before he slid the rapidly leaking cell halfway back into the slot.

Returning the arrow to his quiver, Vaarta leapt back up to the door, reactivating his invisibility as he did so.

"Good work Vaarta. With any luck, the inspector won't be able to conclude that this was sabotage."

Vaarta slid around the grouped guards. "Speaking of the inspector, where is he?"

"Still speaking with the lancer, though he appears to be bringing the lecture to an end."

Vaarta rolled through the door and glanced around the second coolant access room, noting the Grineer on the lower floor performing maintenance on the turret. "That was to be expected. Still, it still gave me the time I needed for this."

As with the other room, he used his knell to disable the generators, before dropping down into the coolant cell access and withdrawing the coolant.

Just like with the first cell, Vaarta broke the glass with his knell and arrow and started the cell emptying.

This time however he waited in the access for the coolant cell to drain.

"Vaarta, the inspector is leaving the vault."

Vaarta glanced at the nearly empty coolant cell, then activated his invisibility. "Understood."

Returning to to the reactor room, Vaarta crept down to the fuel access and set the empty coolant cell on the ground in front of the fuel cell port.

Picking up the fuel cell, Vaarta took a moment to check his radar before heading back to the second coolant port. "Lotus, where are we on time?"

"If you hurry, the reactor will began causing magnetic anomalies just before the inspector reaches the vault."

Vaarta dropped down to the coolant cell access. "Perfect. I'll get the reactor restarted in a moment."

Vaarta's invisibility wore off as he inserted the fuel cell into the coolant port, but he didn't think anything of it until he turned around and stared into the startled face of the Grineer maintenance technician.


	7. Improvise

_No weapons._ Vaarta thought, already in motion towards the Grineer. _I can't mark the body._

The Grineer technician recovered quickly from his surprise, his mouth opening to shout as Vaarta reached him.

The Tenno's skill with held weapons had caused many people, even among the Tenno, to forget a very important fact; that the Warframes themselves were very strong, out of necessity to wield the weapons they used.

Vaarta had not forgotten.

A hand clamped on the Grineer's shoulder, to keep him still while Vaarta's other hand slammed into the Grineer's head, and it was over.

Vaarta stood over the dying, broken necked Grineer for a moment, thinking quickly.

Grabbing the Grineer's corpse, Vaarta dragged it into the coolant access room. It wouldn't hold up to a search, but it should buy him some time.

"Lotus. You saw?"

"I did. Restart the reactor, and then we can decide how to proceed."

Vaarta turned, cloaked, and jumped up to the door. "I've got a plan. One second."

Vaarta entered the reactor room, noting that the guards had dispersed back to their stations around the room.

Vaarta ran to the reactor, jumped, kicked off the reactor, and landed in the control room.

A quick glance confirmed that none of the sentries were currently in the room.

Vaarta stood and stepped up to the reactor control console and accessed the system.

"Lotus, time?"

"I cannot provide an accurate projection until you get the reactor back online."

Vaarta continued to navigate the Grineer systems. "I meant until the next sentry enters the room."

"You have ten seconds."

Vaarta found the proper protocol. "Done. Reactor's coming online."

There was a brief pause. "Confirmed. Fuel is beginning to flood the coolant systems. The process will complete before the inspector can enter the third datavault. Good work."

Vaarta moved to a corner of the room that was shielded from view of the doorway. "Thanks mom."

"Do you want to stay and watch over the console, or go hide the body of the Grineer?"

The door to the control room opened and a shield lancer marched in.

"I can deal with the corpse later. I'd better stay here."

The lancer marched over the the console and stared out the opening behind it, clearly distracted.

"Kwey ra hu handa genkry ooraganaga ramn reger?" He muttered, continuing to stare into the distance. "Huut's nkt ragga."*1

In the shadows behind the lancer, Vaarta crouched, invisible, his knell drawn and leveled at the lancer's head. If the lancer noticed the sabotage, he'd have to shoot him and take his chances with the investigation.

A long, tense minute passed.

Then there was a loud thunk from the reactor.

The lancer started out of his thoughts, his viper raised in the direction of the noise. "Lahk pask klaat?"*2

Without any further warning, large blue bubbles of magnetic energy erupted throughout the room, one even erupting from the control console in a shower of sparks.

The lancer jumped back, staggering on landing in the reduced gravity.

"Rektana bok!" Came the call from below. "Hanga do mukk!"

The lancer ran out of the room towards the call.

Behind him, Vaarta holstered his knell, a smile on his face. He hadn't expected the control console to get fried, but it was a nice bonus.

"Lotus, what's our status?"

"The inspector is heading to the terminal, likely in an effort to try to salvage the data."

"I presume he will be disappointed?"

"Yes. The terminal was destroyed shortly after the magnetic anomalies appeared."

Vaarta refreshed his invisibility and slid out of the control room. "Perfect. Let me stage the engineer's body, and I will head to extraction and get this data out of here."

*1 "Why do I keep getting assigned down here?" "It's not fair."

*2 What was that?

*3 Reactor break! Stop the mess!


	8. Vanish

Vaarta dragged the body of the Grineer engineer out of the coolant access room.

"Vaarta, you still haven't said how you plan to hide the body."

Vaarta stooped and hoisted the corpse onto his shoulder. "I'm not going to hide the body. I'm going to hide the injuries."

Vaarta leaped to the higher ground near the door.

"Vaarta, the Grineer are not stupid. You won't be able convince them that the engineer's neck isn't broken."

Vaarta lowered the corpse to the ground. "I am aware of that. Which is why I'm not going to try. I'm going to hide my involvement."

Vaarta grabbed the engineer's ankles and dangled him head down over the lower floor.

"What do you think?"

There was a momentary pause.

"Your plan has an acceptable chance of success. Drop him."

Vaarta did so.

The engineer hit the ground with a thud, his already broken neck snapping back at an unnatural angle as he crumpled.

"Lahk pask klaat?"*1 Asked a Grineer voice in the room behind him.

Vaarta immediately turned invisible.

"Gar tok. Gkk krafe."*2

Vaarta stepped to the side as the door opened and a pair of lancers stepped into the room.

As the lancers began their search, Vaarta ducked back out the closing door and began heading towards extraction.

"Lotus, can you still open doors for me?"

"That is not required. The lockdown has been lifted to facilitate dealing with the magnetic anomalies."

Vaarta began accelerating. "Perfect. Ordis is in position with my lander?"

"Of course."

Vaarta allowed a smile to cross his face. "Thank you for your assistance. I'll transmit the data as soon as I get back to my orbiter."

"I will make preparations to decipher it."

Vaarta slid past a balista, sidestepped a scorpion, and kept running. "One more thing. When I get out, please take me off the duty roster for a couple hours."

There was a second's pause.

"Is something wrong?"

Vaarta slid into the extraction room, narrowly dodging a magnetic bubble in the process. "No, I'm fine. I just need a short break after this."

"Understood. I am suspending you from the roster for two hours. Enjoy your rest."

Vaarta stepped into the outline on the underside of his ship, enjoying the familiar feel of the magnetic lock securing him in place. "Thanks mom. Talk to you later. Vaarta out."

*1 What was that?

*2 You two. Go check.


End file.
